Hurricane Matthew recently unleashed a lot of devastation on the East coast over the weekend, but it caused more devastation on the Caribbean islands, particularly Haiti, where some NFL players are from. The damage caused by the hurricane didn’t affect any NFL games, which means NFL odds also weren’t affected.
After the hurricane, several Haitian NFL players rallied to provide some relief for the people affected by the hurricane. The players that provided relief include Rickey Jean Francois and Pierre Garcon of the Washington Redskins, and Elvis Dumervil of the Baltimore Ravens.
According to reports, Garcon didn’t hesitate to take Redskins owner Dan Snyder up on his offer to help bring medical supplies to Haiti. Garcon, who is the son of Haitian immigrants asked Project Medishare about the supplies that were needed on the ground, then he rounded up the supplies, which included gauze, medical wipes, and intravenous saline for cholera treatment.
On Monday, Garcon, Jean Francois, and the Redskins communications senior vice president Tony Wyllie arrived in Haiti.
In the past, Garcon has been very passionate about helping people in Haiti, and has been there to help out during other natural disasters, which is why it isn’t surprising to see him rallying players and team staff to help the people affected by Hurricane Matthew.
Buffalo Bills defensive lineman Leger Douzable, who has played for eight teams in his eight years in the NFL, is also one of the players that are trying to get relief to Haiti to help out the people affected by Hurricane Matthew.
Like Garcon and some of the other players, Douzable’s father was born in Haiti, and he has been to the country to see first-hand the damage caused by the earthquake in 2010.
Douzable and teammate Nickell Robey-Coleman are not only helping to send supplies to Haiti, they are also donating money to the NFL Resilience for Haiti Community Initiative for every big play they make on the field.
Douzable has promised to donate $1,000 every time he gets a sack or makes a tackle for a loss. Robey-Coleman has promised to donate $1,000 for every interception he makes or touchdowns he scores. Douzable told reporters he feels like the country can’t catch a break because the earthquake was only a few years ago, and the death toll from the hurricane is already at 900.
Douzable said he doesn’t plan to stop with the donations, he plans on getting more NFL players involved in the relief effort and added that he already knows a few that are willing to help out.
So far, Douzable has pledged $3,500, and Robey-Coleman, who has three interceptions and two touchdowns, has pledged $5,000. Regardless of how many sacks he ends up having at the end of the season, Douzable said he intends to donate a minimum of $10,000 at the end of the year.
Douzable said that after the earthquake killed 160,000 people and left 1.5 million people homeless, he has been working with several companies to try and coordinate donations and supplies for the people affected.
Douzable also provided a link to a website where people can make donations: https://newstorycharity.org/nfl-haiti/. All of the donations will go building the destroyed communities in Haiti.